Disclaimer: Shaman King and its characters belong to Hiroyuki Takei, not me.

Author's Notes: This is an alternate universe based on the Shaman King anime, aside from the fact that I am using dates from the manga.

WARNING! There be spoilers ahead!

Episode 01: Shadows of the Past

There were no clouds in the sky as the sun shined brightly over the narrow stretch of road that was cutting its way through the desert. The unforgiving heat was enough to make anyone cranky.

"Are we there yet?" asked Horohoro for the 15th time in the half hour that Yoh and his friends had been walking this particular day. He wasn't helping matters.

"No!" Ren practically growled at him. His Kwan Dao clicked into place as he pointed it ominously at the blue-haired shaman.

Lyserg sweatdropped. "Here we go again."

"Perhaps we should go on ahead and let them cool off," suggested Ryu.

Yoh stretched lazily. "Hm... that might not be such a bad idea."

Crystal was humming a random tune that was difficult to identify because it seemed to change into something else every few seconds in such a way that it seemed as though she herself couldn't quite decide what the tune should be. This process was interrupted as a shape suddenly leapt out of her shadow and caught her in a bear hug. She was snapped out of her daze and immediately screamed.

It was obvious now that the shape was actually a person, although the nature of this person was still questionable. He appeared to be somewhat younger than Crystal, and while his entrance seemed to state otherwise, apparently quite human. As if to emphasize on his entrance, his jeans were such a dark shade of blue, they were nearly black and his t-shirt was black. His hair was short and a rather dark shade of brown while his eyes were presently debating what color they were going to be, shifting between blue, green, hazel and even red.

"Tyriel, how many times do I have to tell you? Quit sneaking up on me like that!"

Crystal's scream had the effect of making the boys draw their respective weapons, thinking they were suddenly under attack. After all, they were all participants in the Shaman Fight. Seeing Crystal's fear switch to annoyance, most of them lowered their weapons, with the exception of Ren who returned to threatening Horohoro with his Kwan Dao while the Ainu shaman prepared to defend himself with his snowboard.

Yoh had a puzzled expression on his face looking between Crystal and the boy she had called Tyriel. "So then, you two know each other?"

"That's one way of putting it," mumbled Crystal as she forcefully removed Tyriel from her person. Once he had been moved out of the way, the even younger boy who had been behind him was finally made visible.

This boy looked rather like Yoh, only considerably younger and without the headphones. In fact, he was wearing an outfit practically identical to the one that had served as Yoh's battle costume during the preliminary rounds of the Shaman Fight. The difference was that he had a length of what appeared to be prayer beads, rather like Anna's, sporting a golden medallion engraved with the image of Yamata no Orochi.

Crystal's frustration toward Tyriel's choice of entrances completely vanished at the appearence of the younger boy. "Ki, sorry I had to leave you with Tyriel while I went on ahead. I trust that you kept him out of trouble."

The younger boy, Ki, gave a nod of confirmation, but remained silent. Tyriel gave Crystal a reproachful look. "You make it sound like I try to cause trouble intentionally."

"You do," replied Crystal indifferently.

Tyriel made a final effort at pouting, but then a mischievious grin played across his face that totally ruined his attempt at playing innocent. "So here you are in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a bunch of a cute guys. I don't suppose you've decided who you're interested in yet."

Crystal's eyes narrowed. "Taki, if you don't mind."

The kitten with metallic black fur seemed to materialize from somewhere behind Crystal's leg and wandered out where she could be seen. A glint came to her eyes as she gave a fangy, kittenish grin. "Ready when you are." Her form shifted into that of a Spirit Flame and floated in front of Crystal's waiting hand.

Crystal's other hand drew the plastic sword that was strapped over her shoulder. "Taki into the plastic sword! Oversoul!" The entire sword took on an electric blue glow as she held it firmly in her right hand. She slashed horizontally in front of her. "Inabikari Surasshu!" Several streaks of lightning flashed from the blade and struck Tyriel, causing him to collapse to the desert sand in a charred heap. After unleashing her Lightning Slash, Crystal released her Oversoul and replaced the plastic sword where it was strapped over her shoulder.

Taki, once again in her kitten form, made herself comfortable perching on Crystal's free shoulder. Crystal cast a glance at Tyriel as he hauled himself up from the ground. "You know as well as I do that I don't really have the time to be thinking about those sort of things. The fate of the world is going to be decided by the outcome of this Shaman Fight and you're thinking about my preference in guys?!"

Tyriel dusted himself off, clearly not all that affected by the pounding Crystal had just given him, and smirked innocently back at Crystal. "I was just curious is all."

"Geez, she's almost as violent as Ren," commented Horohoro. During the time that Crystal had been punishing Tyriel, he and Ren had finished their little brawl.

Ren let this comment slide, for now. "Hardly. She's only acting tough."

"So you think my little lightning show was just an act, do you?" Crystal's eyes glinted dangerously.

Yoh sweatdropped. "Now, now. There's no need for another fight. We're trying to get to Patch Village, remember?"

Crystal huffed. "Whatever. Ren's just lucky you stopped me from dishing out my secret weapon."

"Secret weapon?" Ren smirked. "You're bluffing again."

Lyserg sighed. "There they go again."

"Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around today," commented Ryu.

As the day began winding to a close, the assembled group finished cross that section of the desert to find themselves in what appeared to be a patch of forest. At least there would be shade now, even if it wasn't actually all that hot anymore. As usual, Ryu had become inspired to try calling for Billy so they wouldn't have to walk anymore.

"It's been a long time," whined Horohoro.

"Nearly two hours already," added Ren.

"Hey Ryu, how much longer is this going to take?" asked Horohoro.

"Billy will come," Ryu continued using his Big Thumb Oversoul determinedly, not aware that Billy was presently caught up in a rather large cow crossing.

Yoh was busy talking to Crystal who had casually located herself up in a nearby tree. "So, what is your reason for participating in the Shaman Fight anyway?"

"My reason?" Crystal looked at the sky through the leaves. "I don't plan to win, if that's what you mean. I guess you could say that I'm in it to meet people."

"So there isn't some dream your fighting to achieve... what about that comment you made earlier, about the fate of the world?" asked Yoh.

Crystal lowered herself from the tree. "It's true isn't it? Whoever wins the Shaman Fight will gain the power to change the world. I don't want to see that power fall into the wrong hands."

"And what would you do with that power?" asked Lyserg joining the conversation.

"I don't want it," replied Crystal. "I just want to make friends and go on living in the present world. I'm not exactly the sort who fits in back home, so when I was given the opportunity to travel because of my powers, I decided to take it."

Lyserg glanced to Tyriel who was entertaining Ki by phasing in and out of the shadows of a nearby tree. "And what about him?"

"When he found out I was leaving, he followed me." Crystal sweatdropped.

Horohoro wandered over. "Are you sure that guy is human?"

"Relatively," replied Crystal with a vague sweatdrop.

"Well, it looks like we'll be camping out tonight," noted Yoh as the group continued walking down the road. The sky was dark now that the sun had faded over the horizon, with the exception of the stars scattered across it.

"Out under the stars isn't that bad," agreed Horohoro.

"Stargazing. It's a hobby of mine." Ren paused to look up.

"It's much brighter here than back home, neh Tyriel?" asked Crystal.

"I prefer the shadows when I hunt. You know that." The way in which Tyriel answered this question made it difficult to tell if he was being serious or if he was cracking some kind of inside joke that only he and Crystal would understand.

Crystal sweatdropped. "If it isn't the city lights at my dad's house, it's the passing cars at my mom's house that spoil the view of the night sky. Sometimes it's nice to be someplace where there aren't so many people."

"It makes hunting easier." Tyriel grinned dangerously.

Horohoro raised an eyebrow. "Hunting for what exactly?"

"Anything that bleeds," supplied Tyriel.

Crystal resisted the impulse to bash Tyriel with something exceedingly heavy and settled on ignoring him until he was off this train of thought. She relaxed as the stars caught her attention again. "What do you think Taki? Is the view here better than from the waterfall?"

Taki yawned from her perch on Crystal's shoulder. "I'd call it about even actually... although there's certainly a lot more sky to look at here."

"How can you all be so leisurely about this? We don't even know how long it will take to get to Patch Village." Lyserg was being his usual brooding self.

Yoh had that usual carefree smile on his face that made it difficult to tell if he was being serious or if he was just being naive. "Don't worry about it Lyserg. We'll get there when we get there."

That was when everyone noticed the headlights coming from behind them. Ryu made for the driver's side door, assuming that the vehicle in question must certainly be Billy's truck. After clearing up that little misunderstanding, the old couple in the van offered a ride to the weary travelers, volunteering to take them to a nearby town.

Dinner and several explanations later, the group found themselves being repeatedly pranked by various spirits in the guest room the old couple was letting them spend the night in. Tyriel emerged from where he had been hidden within the shadows, where he had been safe from the pranking spirits.

"Has anyone seen Crystal?"

Lyserg shook his head. "She's been missing for a while... and that kid, Ki, seems to have followed her."

"It shouldn't be too hard to figure out where she went," noted Ren. "It isn't like she could have gotten very far without her ghost."

Tyriel noted that the form of Taki was curled up on the carpet in front of the fireplace soaking up the warmth from the fire and snoring peacefully. "I guess we can rule out flying back to California then."

Horohoro looked over the three boys in confusion. He then glanced toward Yoh who had an equally confused look on his face. "Do you know what they're saying?"

Yoh sweatdropped, blushing in embarassment. "I think they're speaking English. I always sleep through that part of class."

"It would seem that Yoh is not yet aware that I am here," noted Matamune.

Crystal nodded from where she, Ki, and Matamune were presently perched on the roof. "It seems that the rest of them didn't jump to conclusions about Ki either."

"I'm not surprised. They're a pretty absent-minded bunch when there isn't an immediate threat to motivate them," noted Matamune.

"I think they're mostly distracted by Tyriel," suggested Ki.

Crystal sweatdropped. "That could very well be."

"I knew there was something going on out here." Ren's sudden appearence on the roof nearly caused Crystal and Ki to lose their footing, but Crystal righted herself and caught the younger boy by the arm. Matamune seemingly vanished altogether and where he had been standing there was now a tall man with blond hair and dark brown eyes, dressed in the same attire as the cat spirit that had previously been present.

"Eh, what are you doing up here?" asked Crystal. She seemed rather like a deer caught in the headlights.

Ren smirked, clearly enjoying this. "Not so tough now, are you? If you must know, Tyriel was looking for you, but it seems I found you first."

Nervousness forgotten, Crystal scowled back at Ren. "Yeah, you think you're so clever just because you were able to find me."

"Who's he?" asked Ren, indicating the now human-looking Matamune.

"My name is Matt, Ki's partner ghost in the Shaman Fight," supplied Matamune. He casually disappeared into a memorial tablet that was poking out of Ki's pocket.

"Anyway, if Tyriel is looking for me, I guess we better get back inside." Crystal prepared to make the jump down from the roof, but her arm was caught by Ren.

"Not so fast. I want to know what's going on here." Ren's tone didn't really express whether he was actually suspicious or simply curious.

Crystal sweatdropped, laughing nervously. "Eh-heh... that is to say that it is a rather long story and now isn't exactly the time for me to be telling it."

"Che. If you're trying to keep a secret, that's your business. Just don't cause trouble for the rest of us." Ren disappeared over the edge of the roof, presumeably heading back inside.

Crystal let out a sigh of relief. "That was bloody close."

The following morning resulted in the arrival of the Lily 5, a fun-filled battle with an army of what appeared to be demonic monkeys, and the sudden arrival of Hao who took it upon himself to burn out a number of the local forest spirits using the Spirit of Fire. With such a depressing conclusion to an otherwise enjoyable misadventure, the group continued on their way toward Patch Village in slightly fallen spirits. Meanwhile, Mikihisa had been given the word from Hao to bring his shaman book of 1000 years ago to Yoh in an effort to make Yoh stronger.

"I can call Billy to give us a lift," suggested Ryu.

"Don't you remember what happened yesterday? I think we're better off walking." Horohoro started doing just that.

"He's right, we can't keep bothering Billy like that," agreed Yoh.

"You're quiet Crystal. Something on your mind?" asked Tyriel.

Crystal sighed. "It's just... nothing." I don't want to have to confront Hao again, but it looks like I might not have a choice.

To Be Continued...

Tyriel

Age 11

Birthday: August 13, 1987

Star Sign: Leo

Blood Type: AB

Details: A childhood friend of Crystal's who lives by the belief that as long as he doesn't get caught, he can get away with anything. He was one of the children who played with Crystal in Elementary School and one of the few that rejoined her in Middle School. Like Crystal, he was also unaware of his connection to the world of spirits until the fateful night when Crystal left for Tokyo. Tyriel is a character based on a real friend of mine.

Asakura Ki

Age 8

Birthday: March 13, 1991

Star Sign: Pisces

Blood Type: AB

Details: The younger brother of Asakura Yoh and Asakura Hao, not that either of them knows this. Not much is known about him as he is relatively quiet and seemingly only speaks to Crystal and Matamune. His name, Ki, means "tree". This is a character who originally appeared in a Shaman King related dream a friend of mine had (the same one Tyriel is based on) and has since been named and perfected by myself.

Matamune

Details: Matamune is a character featured in the Shaman King manga, although left out of the anime entirely. He also makes an appearence in the Shaman King Osorezan Revoir -prologue to shaman- radio drama. Basically, he is a cat spirit that was partnered off with ten-year-old Yoh, shortly before Yoh was sent to meet Anna for the first time. If you want to know more and don't mind spoilers, plenty of websites have revealed the details regarding this character.